In the wake of the success of Nickelodeon's game show slop fest called "Double Dare", Bob Synes and Scott Stone, producers of the groundbreaking "$1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime", broke more ground with "Fun House", the messiest game show ever shown in syndication. If none of the stations in your market aired the show, you could catch it on "Chicago's Very Own" super station, WGN, that is, if you had cable. Getting back to the show, it was given a hip, youthful look, unlike the big money, tight security look of "$1M COAL". It featured a college-aged host named J.D. Roth (this would prove to be his best work), cheerleaders to support each team (Samantha "Sammi" Forrest supported the Red team; her twin sister, Jacqueline "Jackie" Forrest supported the Gold team), an exciting announcer in John "Tiny" Hurley, great synthesized-rock hybrid theme music by Score Productions (who provided the $1M COAL music), and a marvelous set, designed for messy stunts, the awesome Grand Prix race, and of course, the little thing known as the Fun House, filled with obstacles galore, crate loads of cash, and a plethora of prizes--which of those cash/prize tags was the Power Prize? Fun House was one of the best syndicated children's game shows of all-time...okay, it was probably THE best, considering that there weren't too many successful children's game shows made for syndication! When you ask people if they remember "Fun House", many would tell you about the people, but I personally remember the Whitewater Slide that went to the pool. That was one of the hundreds of ways to go in the Fun House, and I think that was a great idea, having its participants go their own way; Stone-Stanley believed in the policy that "the choices are yours and yours alone." The funny thing is that Stone-Stanley did quite well when it came to children's game shows, but not as well when it came to adult game shows! (The only exception is "$1M COAL", but that was before the Stone-Stanley name was established!) But of all the game shows they've done, "Fun House" will forever stand out as their best game show. It was the only show where they would put together silly stunts, crazy races and a massive, magnificent obstacle course and target them to those who handle them best--preteens. Too bad this show didn't last as long as it deserved (unlike "Shop 'til You Drop", which lasted longer than it deserved), or else Stone-Stanley's potential would really have been known. I hope that "Fun House" is rerun again (like on GSN or some other network), and in the words of J.D. Roth, "I hope your house is a fun house!"
Review of Fox's Fun House
